AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: KRAKOW — “BLACK WANDERING SUN”

 

In this post we happily present the North American premiere of a new song and a new video from the new album, minus, by the Norwegian alchemists in Krakow, which will be released by Karisma Records on August 31. And as a prelude, let’s begin with the band’s own words — in part because the final sentence seems particularly fitting in the context of this new song: “black wandering sun“:

“Following the laborious process of distilling two albums worth of material into one focused gem, we give you “minus”. The pinnacle achievement of Krakow’s thirteen-year existence. After a year of recording, shaping, re-recording and refining, “minus” has been reduced to the bare essence of who Krakow are as individuals, as a group and as story tellers. An album that defies any attempts at genre definition. This release covers the heavy, the subtle, the melodic, the atonal, the groovy, the sluggish, the dense, the airy, the naked, and always, always, the wall of sound where no light can escape.”

 

photo by Francisco Munoz

The band further note: “There is beauty, and there is rotten decay, like a lush forested island in a lake of septic water. There are monsters and there are saints, and none of them reveal themselves, we must find those cracks on our own.”

minus consists of six songs, the work of nine singers, three guitarists, two drummers, and a bassist. The themes range “from outer space to the hidden worlds deep below, travelling in time from distant future to nearer past like an inverted space odyssey”. And of this new song, which includes a guest appearance of Phil Campbell of Motörhead fame, Krakow tell us:

“black wandering sun is an homage to our heroes who passed during the last couple of years, pulling inspiration from their universe, tipping the hat to their words and visiting them as the stars they are. And to top it off we were helped out by Phil who did the most rock n’ roll solo to provide the glitz and stardom the song needed to reach the summit of heaviness. The video is a reflection of the story the song tells, yet it becomes its own story, like a parallel trail through the universe, much like everything else that’s going on with this album. Godspeed, you Starman!”

The song is a blending of contrasts. You can feel the earthen slug and rumble of the bass and the drums in “black wandering sun” deep in your body’s core, while the piercing wail of the vocals shoots through the top of your head and the gossamer-light shimmer and shine of the guitars guides the brain across astral planes. And the squall of Phil Campbell’s solo does indeed add potent fuel to an electrifying crescendo.

The animated video, by the way, is a feast for the eyes. Credit to Esteban Sebastián Farias for creating it.

You’ll find pre-order info through the links below.

 

Pre-order:
https://www.karismarecords.no/webshop/
https://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/ (North America Webshop)

Krakow:
https://krakow.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/krakowband/